This invention relates to an autostop mechanism for automatically stopping the operation of a tape recorder at the end of a cassette tape when the tape recorder is used in a predetermined mode, and more particularly to a mechanism for cancelling the retention of the mode used in the same manner as in the use of a stop mode.
In a conventional autostop mechanism for a tape recorder, the terminal end of the tape of the cassette half is coated with conductive material, and at the end of the tape, the conductive material conducts so as to turn the motor off. But this method is inapplicable if conductive material is not applied to the terminal end portion of the tape, and it is inconvenient in operation in that in the reproduction and recording modes, the head, the pinch roller and so on are operated even if the motor is turned off, so that the cassette cannot be unloaded immediately. Further disadvantageous is the fact that a special mechanism for stopping and starting the motor is required, and it is necessary to connect this mechanism with the mode switching operation mechanism, which results in a complex construction.
This invention also relates to a tape slack preventing apparatus for preventing the tape of the cassette from slackening during operation in a pause mode, and particularly to an apparatus where the inertia of the tape at the time of operation in the pause mode is eliminated by using the braking of a reel arm of an autostop mechanism.
Generally, when a tape recorder is operated in a pause mode, power transmission is cut off by slackening the driving belts of the take-up reel shaft and the capstan, whereby the feed of a tape is temporarily stopped. Accordingly, when the reel shaft and the capstan, which have been rotating, stop suddenly, the tape stretched therebetween is slackened because of remaining inertia, and the positions before and after the pause mode operation are overlapped or are varied, which causes various inconveniences in recording.